1. Technical Field
The invention is directed generally to shower curtain rods and more particularly, to a shower curtain rod that allows the shower curtain or liner to be easily and quickly turned in-side-out to facilitate faster drying as well as providing other unique features.
2. Related Art
Shower curtain rods are well known in the art. Typically they are fixed in place metal, plastic, or wooden rods for holding shower curtains. In a typical configuration, the shower curtain rod is simply a simple rod that is mounted between opposite walls framing the opening to a shower stall or bathtub. These rods are designed to receive shower curtain hooks, which are used to hang a shower curtain or liner from the rod while simultaneously allowing the shower curtain to be moved horizontally fore and aft about the length of the shower curtain rod.
Many shower curtain rods are designed such that they are fixed in place, while the curtain hangs below the rod from the shower curtain hooks. While this allows the shower curtain or liner to be quickly and easily moved horizontally fore and aft about the length of the rod, this arrangement only allows one side of the shower curtain to face the inner shower stall, while the other side of the shower curtain always faces out into the room. The inner side of the shower curtain or liner that faces the inner side of the shower stall or bathtub stall is also the side that normally gets wet when the shower is used. The inner side of the shower curtain must then always face the wet and high humidity inner shower stall as it dries. Unfortunately, this approach can often delay drying of the shower curtain for several hours due to the high humidity of a recently used shower or bathtub stall. This delayed drying of the shower curtain may lead to mold and mildew setting up on the shower curtain.
Many new plastic or vinyl shower curtains and liners are treated with chemicals that are designed to be mold and mildew resistant, however, even these curtains and liners will eventually develop mold and mildew if they are used continuously in a high humidity environment for long periods of time. Furthermore, shower curtains comprised of cotton, polyester, hemp or other natural materials are prone to mold and mildew when used in high humidity shower areas. What is needed is a method for quickly drying the inner stall-facing side of a shower curtain so that it is more resistant to mold and mildew.
There exists a need for a shower curtain rod that allows the inner-stall facing side of a shower curtain or liner to be quickly re-positioned and exposed to the lower humidity areas of the bathroom or room. For example, a shower curtain rod that allows the shower curtain to be rotated 180 degrees so that the wet, inner-stall facing side of a shower curtain or liner can be repositioned so that it is facing the outer bathroom area, rather than the high humidity, inner-shower-stall area is needed. Embodiments described below disclose a shower curtain rod that allows a shower curtain or liner to be quickly rotated 180 degrees so that the wet, inner-stall facing side of a shower curtain or liner can be turned to face the lower humidity bathroom area, rather than the high humidity shower stall area.